Fear Will Be Your Enemy
by President Snowflake
Summary: Elsa's parents search for a tutor, someone like her who might be able to understand and teach her how to use her magic. They find one in Jack Frost, a lonely boy with no friends or family and control over ice just like Elsa. However, a dark presence haunts Jack wherever he goes. How long before it catches up to him, or worse, realises there is a bigger prize to be won in Elsa?
1. Their First Meeting

_**Thank you for checking out my new story, Fear Will Be Your Enemy (working title, if anyone has any better suggestions, that would be great!) I must admit, I wasn't a huge fan of Frozen, but I've fallen in love with the idea of crossovers between it and Rise of the Guardians. Thus, this fic :) The first few chapters follow relatively closely to Frozen's plot (don't worry, I'll be switching it up soon) but there will obviously be changes to accommodate adding Jack Frost in :) I've never written for canon characters before, and while some will be slightly different from their true versions based on the new histories they have, I'm aiming to try and match their personalities as best I can. If you see any way I can improve on this, please feel free to let me know! This fic is an experiment for me and I love any and all kinds of feedback.**_

_**Without further ado, thank you very much for reading and I hope you enjoy!**_

* * *

It all happened too fast. The playing, the fun, the happiness—snuffed out like a candle's weak flame and replaced with only darkness and fear. One misfire, that was all it took. One misfire, and now her sister might die.

Elsa sniffled, wrinkling her nose as tears carved itching trails down her cheeks. She wanted to wipe them away, but both her arms were wrapped firmly around the horse's neck, fingers woven through the coarse hairs and grasping them tight. Even with her father's presence behind her, his strong arms on either side of her shaking body, she was still worried loosening her grip might result in her flying off the horse. She'd never ridden this fast before, or on this big a mount, and the wind whipped by her fiercely, as though at any moment it might carry her off.

Suddenly, the pounding of hooves screeched to a stop as her father reined their horse in. He slid off immediately and pulled Elsa down just as her mother came up beside them on a stallion of her own. She had to wait for her husband to help her down; her arms were filled with the unconscious form of her youngest daughter.

_Anna. _The sight of her sister so still and pale brought tears to Elsa's eyes once more. How could she have done something like this? How could she hurt her own sister, her best friend in the world? _I didn't mean to, _she tried to tell herself, but even in her head, the excuse sounded weak.

"Quickly, this way," her father said, leading them away from the towering trees of the forest and towards a rocky clearing. Elsa had never been here before, and she trusted her father whole-heartedly; still, she stayed close to her mother as they walked slowly into the centre of glade. Something about this place . . . it tingled with the same strange energy Elsa felt when she used her powers. She wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

"Please!" her father called, stepping away from his family. "Help my daughter!"

Who was he talking to? There was no one around for as far as Elsa could see. She glanced up at her mother, wondering what she was thinking, but the queen kept her gaze fixed firmly ahead, blue eyes filled with fear for Anna and hope that someone might be able to help. But who—?

Elsa gasped. The rocks around the clearing were _moving, _rolling over the rises and bumps in the ground of their own accord to reach the centre of the glade. Elsa's father stepped back, placing one hand on her shoulder while the other went around his wife, forming a protective hug. Elsa leaned close to her mother's skirts, gripping the fabric tightly; what was going on? Were they in danger? For a moment, she feared the worst . . .

Then something even stranger happened. The rocks uncurled, and Elsa realised they had never been rocks at all, but short, squat beings made _of _rock, with moss for clothes and glowing crystals around their necks. _Trolls, _Elsa thought, forgetting her fear for a moment to stare in awe. Her father's favourite bedtime stories for her and Anna were stories of the kind troll folk, but Elsa had never imagined they were actually _real_.

The crowd of trolls hummed with murmurs about the king, and like a sea they parted to reveal one of their own. Elsa didn't know how she could tell when he was made from rock, but somehow she knew this troll was old, perhaps the oldest present. His mossy cape was unlike anything the other trolls were wearing, and Elsa immediately guessed him to be their leader.

The troll king came forward and bent his head respectfully towards Elsa's father. "Your Majesty," he greeted. Then, without warning, he took Elsa's hand in his. She gasped and nearly pulled away; no matter how many stories she had been told, the feeling of living rock against her skin was too bizarre. But there was a reassuring kindness in the troll king's eyes that relaxed her tense nerves, and cautiously, she allowed him to wrap his cool fingers around her trembling palm. "Born with the powers or cursed?"

With everything that had happened that night, Elsa felt like responding, "Both." Yes, she had had her magic for as long as she could remember, but with Anna hurt and maybe dying, she couldn't think of her powers as anything other than a curse.

"Born," her father answered for her, kneeling to wrap his arm around Elsa's shoulders. She appreciated the gesture; it was nice to have the familiar warmth as an anchor in the sea of tonight's chaos. "And they're getting stronger," her father added, and Elsa didn't miss the concerned glance he gave her bare palms.

The troll king nodded and gestured to Elsa's mother, who knelt, bringing Anna close to the old troll. He placed a hand on her head, right over the lock of pure white that glistened in Anna's usually red hair.

Elsa held her breath alongside her mother and father. She waited for something to glow, or the small king to chant, something that indicated the use of the trolls' renowned healing powers. Yet the old king did nothing.

With a sigh, he removed a hand from Anna's head, his eyes downcast. "I am sorry. The magic is too strong and too deep to remove. I cannot help her."

Elsa's heart plummeted like a rock. It felt as though her own powers were affecting her, turning her blood to ice and chilling her bones to their core. _Not Anna, no!_

"Please," Elsa's father said desperately. "Please, there has to be something!"

The troll king frowned. "There may be some_one_. But he is . . . unreliable. I do not wish to give you false hope."

"We'll take it," Elsa's mother said, hugging her unconscious daughter tight in her arms. "Anything, anything to save Anna."

"Very well," the troll king said. "Follow me."

He curled into a ball and rolled off into the forest. Elsa's parents hurried after him as Elsa did to, heart pounding a deafening drumbeat in her ears. Whatever the troll king had in mind, it had to work, it _had_ to. Anna couldn't die.

They followed the troll king into the forest, where large rocks and tree roots became frequent tripping hazards. Only when Elsa's foot caught and she tumbled to the ground did she realise the grass was growing a blanket of frost. She didn't feel the cold as others did, but it was clear the air had become very chilly very suddenly. How was that possible?

Elsa's father had noticed her fall and hurried back to her side. "Are you hurt?" he asked, bending over and helping her to her feet.

Her knees and hands stung from the fall, but Elsa didn't want to mention that; not if it slowed them down in helping Anna. "No."

"Good. Then quickly now." He took her hand, and together they ran off after Elsa's mother and the troll king. They hadn't gotten too far ahead; the troll had stopped in front a tiny, half-collapsed bundle of tree branches, what might have once been meant to resemble a crude shelter.

The troll shook his head sadly. "It seems he's already moved on."

"Who's already moved on?"

Elsa jumped, her grip tightening on her father's hand as her eyes darted about, searching for the source of the new voice. At first, she saw no one, until she thought to look up and realised there was someone in the tree above them.

It was a boy, and what shocked Elsa most was how _young _he looked. He couldn't be any older than her. Actually, Elsa was startled to see just how much he resembled her; this boy looked more like her sibling than Anna did. His eyes were bright blue, his hair even whiter than her own blonde locks. What's more, she could feel a sort of . . . hum coming from him. The same energy that the troll glade held hung around this boy like an invisible cloud.

The boy crouched down on a branch, his bare toes wrapping around the wood and seemingly oblivious to the frost that had gathered beneath them. He smiled. "Can't even leave for five minutes without you missing me."

The troll king breathed a sigh of relief. "Jackson. I was worried you'd left Arendelle already."

"How many times do I have to tell you? Just Jack. And I was going to, but I, um, felt something weird. In the woods." The boy, Jack, crouched lower on the branch and squinted down at Elsa. "I think it's coming from her."

_I could say the same to you, _Elsa thought, but instead she simply shivered and moved closer to her father. This new boy was strange. And why was he way out here in the middle of the forest with no parents?

"Is this the one?" Elsa's mother interrupted, looking from the troll king to Jack. "Please, can you help us?"

She held Anna up for him to see. Her sister was getting paler by the minute, Elsa noticed. _Hang in there, Anna._

"She was hit by a blast of ice magic," the troll king clarified as Jack peered down from his branch, confused.

His words caused the boy to frown; was that worry taking over the mischievous light in his eyes? "By . . .?" he asked nervously.

No one said anything, but her parents' glances towards her were enough. "It was an accident," Elsa mumbled, feeling fresh tears pricking the corners of her eyes. She hid her face in the folds of her father's pant leg.

There was a quiet _whoosh _of air, like a cool winter breeze, and Elsa heard her parents gasp. Then came Jack's voice, much closer than before. "Y-you're . . . you're like me?"

She pulled away from her father and turned to find herself staring directly into the eyes of the strange new boy. Up close, his irises were a mixture of lighter and darker blues that almost seemed to form the pattern of a snowflake. He . . . he was like her?

She nodded mutely, unable to speak. Though her parents had searched—discreetly—with someone who might share and understand her powers, they had never succeeded. She'd thought she was entirely alone.

Jack put a hand on her shoulder, his brow creased in concern. "Did he do this to you too?"

Before she could ask who "he" was, her father knelt at her side to speak to Jack. "Y-you're like Elsa?" he said in disbelief. "Then how—how can you help Anna?"

"Jack has a remarkable degree of control over his powers," the troll king said, coming to Jack's side. "If he and I work together, we may be able to heal her. He can remove the ice and I . . ." The troll king hesitated. "Well, I will remove her memories of the magic. _All _of the magic. She will not remember what her sister can do. I believe this is necessary, just to be safe."

Elsa looked at her hands. _Anna won't remember I have powers?_ But who would she share her magic with? Who would she have to talk to about it?

Her father nodded. "Do whatever you must."

Jack, however, looked less sure. "That's, um, that's some big magic," he said, and suddenly the grinning, confident boy from earlier was gone, leaving the embodiment of nervousness in its wake. He looks much more like how Elsa felt about her powers sometimes. "I don't do big magic, remember?"

"Jack, please." The troll king placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "No one else can do this."

Still Jack hesitated. "W-why can't she do it?" he asked, gesturing to Elsa.

She recoiled from his pointing finger. "I can't! I'm not that good, I can't control it, I—" Her voice broke; she looked down at the frosty ground, rubbing at the tears in her eyes. "I already hurt her once. I-I don't want to do it again. Please," she said, meeting Jack's gaze and taking his hand desperately in hers. "Please, please help my sister."

Jack still looked nervous, but after a moment, he nodded slowly. "Y-yeah. Okay."

Elsa's mother knelt by his side, but she still held Anna protectively to her chest. "You're sure you can do this?" she asked the young boy.

"Doing it won't be the problem. It's what might come after that I'm worried about," he said, glancing worriedly at the surrounding forest, as though expecting unseen attackers to leap out at any moment. There was nothing there, though—nothing but trees, bushes and the darkness beyond.

Elsa's father opened his mouth, as though to ask Jack what he meant, but before he could start, the troll king began. Elsa stared in amazement as he placed one stony hand on Anna's head before raising his palm up. A glittering stream of purple magic followed his fingers, spiralling through the air until it formed a cloud, in which Elsa could see the vague forms of her and Anna playing earlier that night. As she watched, the image switched, the background fading from the great hall to outside and a toboggan appearing beneath Anna. He really was changing her memories.

Meanwhile, Jack had placed both hands on Anna's forehead and closed his eyes, assuming an expression of utmost concentration. Elsa's focus switched to him as he started trembling, breathing heavily under the pressure of whatever magic he was performing.

Elsa heard her mother gasp. "Oh my . . ."

A bright blue glow appeared beneath Jack's palms, which were slowly rising above Anna's head, dragging out the magic within her. It was a shard of ice, ten centimetres long and razor sharp at both ends, shining with the light of Elsa's power. It looked like a frozen lightning bolt. _Oh Anna, what did I do to you?_

The troll king brought up Anna's final memory of Elsa's powers and twisted it into a more harmless one just as Jack pulled the shaft of ice magic completely from Anna's forehead. His eyes flew open, his hands twisted and with a shout he sent the bolt shooting towards the nearest bush. Immediately, every leaf and stem turned completely to ice.

The troll king waved, collecting his own purple magic in his palms before placing his hands back on Anna's head once more. The violet glimmer pulsed once, dimmed to a dull glow and faded out completely. In her mother's arms, Anna twitched slightly, and her lips, curved down in a pained frown, quirked upwards into her typical smile.

The troll king sighed. "She will be all right."

Elsa's mother let loose a deep breath of relief; her father stumbled over to kneel beside his wife, feeling Anna's forehead, which had turned back from deathly white to a normal, healthy skin tone. Elsa swore she saw tears leak from his eyes. "Oh, thank goodness," he sputtered, clutching Anna and his wife close. "Thank goodness, thank goodness she's all right."

Elsa herself felt like her heart was swelling up to four times its original size; hope and happiness filled every corner of her body with warmth. Yet before she went to her sister, she turned to Jack, wanting to thank him for helping, for being there to fix her mistake. He could teach her so much about controlling her powers! Maybe he could come back to the castle with them, helping her and playing with Anna; it'd be so nice to have another friend—

Elsa's blossoming grin froze. Jack didn't look good. He was still breathing a bit heavily, but his eyes had gone positively wild, darting hysterically from one corner of the dark forest to the next. There should never be that much fear in the expression of a child so young. "Jack?" she asked tentatively.

"I've got to go!" he cried out suddenly, leaping to his feet. Before Elsa could say another word, he took off—literally. There was a rush of air, and Elsa gasped in amazement as the roaring wind lifted the boy from the ground, sending him flying up into the night sky. _Wow. _Could she ever learn to do that?

"Where is he going?" Elsa's mother asked, though her attention was largely focused on her healed daughter, not Jack. "We haven't even thanked him yet."

"He does that on occasion," the troll king said, watching Jack's rapidly disappearing silhouette fly through the air. Soon he was lost amongst the shadows of the night. The troll sighed. "I'm not sure if we'll ever see him again."

Despite her overwhelming happiness that Anna was okay, Elsa couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit disappointed. Never see Jack again? But he was someone like her! Shouldn't they stick together, to figure out more about their powers and help each other? What if she needed him again?

No, she shouldn't think of that now; she should just be happy Anna was all right. After all, in the end, that was all that mattered. Elsa knelt by her family and joined her parents in hugging Anna, revelling in the newfound warmth of her sister's cheek as it pressed against her own. Anna was fine—Anna really was fine. For what felt like the hundredth time that night, Elsa felt tears roll down her cheeks, but at last it wasn't grief or guilt that caused them. She felt overcome with joy and relief; nothing could spoil this moment.

Elsa felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to face the troll king, who watched her with grim eyes. "There are some things you must know, Elsa," he said. "Your power will only grow. There is beauty in it." The troll king sighed regretfully. "But also great danger . . ."


	2. The Snuggly Duckling

_**Huge thanks to everyone who's reviewed, followed and favourited so far! It really means a lot!**_

_**Now we're into chapter 2, which takes place ten years after the first one. There will be one more timeskip like this a few chapters down the road just to get us to the "present day" of when Frozen takes place. In this chapter we see a bit more of the king and queen, who may seem slightly out of character, but as we didn't see much of them in the movie, I thought it'd be fun to expand on their characters a bit. I believe they'd act a lot differently when it's just the two of them around vs when they've got their daughters to look out for :)**_

_**Also, I've crossed this story over slightly with Tangled. I'm pretty sure it's canon that Anna, Elsa and Rapunzel are all cousins (if it's not, it should be 'cause it's an awesome idea). I'm thinking this will be it for the Tangled references though, but we'll see how things go down the road :) Would you guys like to see this turn into a bigger crossover at some point?**_

_**Anyways, thank you very much for reading!**_

* * *

Breathe. Remain cool and calm. Execute a perfect curtsy. Maintain the façade of an elegant, regal princess.

"Do you have to go?"

Nope, she had blown it. Elsa cursed herself inwardly, knowing her parents hadn't missed the quavering in her voice. She sounded like a scared child.

And perhaps that was because she _was_. Maybe not the child part—she was eighteen now, after all—but scared? Yes—terrified, even. After the incident with her powers ten years ago and the troll king's revelation that she could be dangerous, her parents had never left the castle for more than a day. Now they were both going away for two weeks.

"You'll be fine," her father said, smiling softly as he took her hand in his. Elsa forced herself not to pull away; she wouldn't hurt him, not her father—besides, she had the gloves on. "It's going to be a smaller ceremony, the festivities won't last long."

"Then why do you have to go away for two weeks? It only takes a couple days to get to Corona."

Elsa's parents exchanged glances, and their daughter's heart sunk immediately. The only time her mother and father ever did that was when they were trying to silently communicate what couldn't be said in front of Elsa. It had taken a few years, but Elsa had come to understand their expressions as well as any spoken words. They were afraid of her growing powers and had absolutely no idea what to do about it.

"It's me, isn't it?" she whispered, crossing her arms to hide her hands, as though that could make the cursed magic disappear. "Are you . . . are you trying to get away from me? Because you're scared?" She'd done it; she'd terrified the only people left who loved her. Now they were going to leave her forever, and she'd be alone for the rest of her life—well, she had Anna, but how long until her sister rediscovered her powers and remembered how Elsa had nearly killed her? It was bound to happen sooner or later, then Anna would hate her, and the guards would lock her up as a murderer, and she'd be thrown into a cold, damp cell until the end of her days—

"Elsa, calm down," her mother said soothingly, taking her by the shoulders. She didn't miss her anxious glance down at her feet and looked herself to find frost creeping out from underneath her slippers. No, no! Why had she even come down here in the first place? She should have stayed locked in her room, should have never left to say goodbye—

"Elsa." Her father's gentle yet firm voice broke through her wave of panicked thoughts as he wrapped his arms around her trembling shoulders. "We love you. We always will love you, and we would never leave you."

Beneath her feet, the frost receded slightly.

"Then why are you going away for so long?" she mumbled into his shoulder, trying to hide the shake in her voice. "I don't know if I can manage."

"Of course you can," her father said, pulling away and giving her a warm smile. She looked down at her feet, but he gently placed a hand under her chin, bringing her eyes back to his. "You are Princess Elsa of Arendelle, the strongest girl in the kingdom."

Even in her mood, she couldn't help but grin slightly. "I don't know about that."

"It's the truth. Don't doubt yourself, Elsa. You'll be just fine." Her father glanced at her mother, who nodded. He cleared his throat. "As for why we're going to take awhile . . . well, we didn't want to get your hopes up in case we found nothing, but I suppose we shouldn't hide it from you."

"We've heard rumours about Corona," her mother continued, taking one of her gloved hands and squeezing it between her warm fingers. "People are saying they've seen strange things happening there. A dam broke close to a small farming village and it would have been devastated had the water not frozen before it reached the first house. And last winter, a team of knights were hunting bandits in the mountains when an avalanche hit. They said they would have died for sure, had a mysterious figure not appeared and forced the snow away from them."

"_Forced_ the snow?" Elsa repeated.

Her mother nodded. "With magic." She smiled at her daughter. "We think there's someone else like you out there. Of course, the rumours are vague, but we thought if we looked into it while on our visit, we might find out more. Maybe even find this person."

Elsa didn't know what to say. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her mind tuning out every one of her mother's words after _there's someone else like you. _Another person out in the world who could control ice and snow? She'd given up hope on that subject long ago. There had only ever been one person she'd met like her, and she hadn't heard a whisper about him in ten years. Actually, "met" was an overstatement; he'd walked into her life for five minutes, saved her sister and disappeared without a trace. Though her parents had tried desperately to search for him, to see if he might hold the answers as to why he and Elsa were like this, they had turned up nothing on the boy. Jack—Elsa doubted she'd ever forget his name for as long as she lived.

Could he be this mysterious person on Corona? Or was it someone else entirely? Either way, the thought sent shivers up her spine, but not the nervous ones that had wracked her body earlier. She was _excited_. Another person like her meant she'd finally stop feeling so alone.

"O-of course, take all the time you need then," Elsa said, unable to stop her voice from shaking with excitement. "Whatever you have to do to find them. I-I just wish I could come with you."

Her father smiled; it was rare he saw her feeling any kind of happiness. "No need, sweetheart. We'll find them and bring them back to you. You'll finally have the teacher you've wanted."

Elsa's mother put a hand on his shoulder. "We'd best go now. The ship's waiting." She wrapped her daughter in one last hug. "See you soon."

"You too," Elsa said, kissing both her parents on the cheek. "I love you both. Have a good trip," she continued as they began to walk towards the castle's large double doors. "And be safe!"

* * *

"Well, here we are." King Agdar of Arendelle dismounted his horse and led it to a nearby post to secure the reins; beside him, his wife did the same.

"The Snuggly Duckling," Idun said, looking up at the brightly painted tavern, a small grin on her face. "Quite the name for the thuggish lair you were making it out to be."

"Just wait until we get inside," he said with a quiet chuckle. "Honestly, I still can't believe you've never been. All the times your parents visited on official business and you never thought to sneak off to the most infamous tavern in Corona?"

"Of course not." She whacked him playfully on the shoulder. "I was a model child, unlike a certain _someone _I know."

He laughed. "I was young and foolish."

Idun shook her head, but she couldn't hide the grin on her lips. "Frequenting taverns. How utterly un-prince-like."

Agdar wrapped his arm around his wife's waist and opened the door for the two of them. Instantly, they were assaulted with the stench of meat, unwashed men and something viler Agdar didn't care to identify. The tavern's candles were sparse and dim, but he could still make out the usual brood of ruffians he'd come to expect from the Duckling. Though he and Idun were barely spared a second glance, he unconsciously pulled his wife closer to his side; he may have come here often in his youth, but that didn't change the fact that you never knew what to expect from the tavern patrons. He and Idun had even taken the precaution of wearing simple clothes and long, black cloaks to preserve their identities, lest any criminal get any ideas about ransoming the king and queen of Arendelle.

Their disguises held up for all of two seconds. All the big, bulky man wiping tankards behind the bar had to do was glance up for a moment, and suddenly his face was splitting into a wide grin. "Idun! Bless my beard, it is you! All grown up, I see?"

Agdar's tensed muscles relaxed. He gave his wife a glance out of the corner of his eye. "Never been, huh?"

"Well . . ." She smiled playfully. "Once or twice."

"How utterly un-princess-like."

She laughed just as the man behind the bar reached them. Without another word, he swooped Idun up in a bone-crushing hug. "It's been ages, little one."

Agdar coughed politely and the man stepped away from Idun, his gaze moving to the king. "And of course I know you. Brother of the queen, aren't yah? King o' some far off kingdom now, eh?" He laughed, a booming series of chuckles that shook the very foundation of the tavern. "So, Idun, I s'pose you did wind up marryin' that 'snooty, insufferable prince'."

Agdar raised an eyebrow at his wife, faking a hurt expression. "'Snooty, insufferable prince'? You wound me, dear wife."

"Oh, like you loved me at first sight," she shot back with a grin he couldn't resist mimicking. Yes, theirs had been an interesting relationship to say the least. All arranged of course, and in the beginning it had been hard to tell who had hated the idea more. But after a series of ridiculous events and adventures, love had found them in the end. Or perhaps it had been there the entire time, and they'd both been too proud and blind to acknowledge it.

"So, what brings a pair of nobles to our humble tavern?" the man asked, slinging an arm over each of their shoulders and steering them inside.

Idun glanced at Agdar, silently asking, _Should I tell him? _He responded with the expression, _If you trust him._

She nodded and glanced up at the big man. "Taddis, we need information about something. A rumour we've been hearing."

The man, Taddis, glanced down at the small queen. "Why're you askin' 'bout things like that?"

She hesitated. "Can you . . . can you just trust that we've got a good reason and would rather not share it?"

Taddis thought for a moment, then nodded. "'Course I can. Anything for my favourite prince and princess." He clapped them on their backs. "Or king and queen it is now, I s'pose. Anyways, what rumour got you interested?"

"We've heard stories about this person," Idun began, sliding onto one of the wooden stools at the bar. Agdar took the one beside her as Taddis went around to fetch them drinks. "A man or a woman, we have no idea, but _someone _who seems to have the ability to, well, control ice and snow. With magic."

Taddis froze in the act of filling a tankard from the keg, not caring as ale spilled over the rim and onto his hand. "Idun," he said slowly, "I want you to take my word on this one." He closed the keg and turned back to the king and queen, his expression dead serious. "Do _not _go lookin' into that rumour."

"Why?" Agdar asked. "We've heard nothing but good things about this mysterious person so far. Saved a village, helped some knights—"

"Aye, an' did you hear what happened to the victims _after_ they were saved?"

Agdar and Idun glanced at each other. As one, they shook their heads.

Taddis ran a hand through his wild, unkempt hair. "It's not a subject for nobles like yourself—bit too gruesome. But I'll spare you the details." He sighed. "Hours after the village was saved from the dam, it was ravaged by these, these creatures. The only man who made it out said they looked like they'd been formed of pure shadow. Tore up everythin' in sight. And the knights in the avalanche? They went back up the mountain the next day to try an' find the magic-user. When they didn't come back, another patrol was sent to search for them. They were found . . . well, I won't say what they looked like, not in front o' you two. Suffice to say they were very, very much dead."

Agdar's eyes widened; Idun put a hand to her mouth. All of the people who had been rescued, killed? Was it related to the person with powers? It had to be; it was too much of a coincidence otherwise.

Oh no—what if the ice magic had been the cause of the later destruction, as a sort of after effect? What if Elsa . . . what if the same thing happened with her powers?

Idun understood his anxiety without speaking. Taking his shaking hand in hers, she looked back at Taddis, a desperate expression on her face. "Please, we have to know more. Do you know of anywhere we could find this person?"

Taddis frowned at her. "I don't want to put the two o' you in danger."

"_Please_," Agdar said. "Please, we absolutely have to know."

The old bartender glanced from one imploring face to the next and tugged his beard anxiously. Finally, he sighed in defeat. "Fine. But you have to promise me you'll be careful, all right?" They both nodded. "Now, I don't know much 'bout this mysterious figure, but I do know some stranger's started frequentin' the tavern. I swear the temperature drops whenever he comes in here. An' when I come to clean up his tankard, it's always cold to the touch. Like ice." Taddis shivered. "I know it's not much, but it's the best I got."

"No, no, that's excellent, Taddis." Idun took his hand eagerly. "What does he look like? Do you know where we could find him?"

"He wears a brown cloak every time he comes in here. Got a hood an' everythin'. No idea what he looks like. As for where he stays, no clue." When Idun looked down in disappointment, he quickly continued, "But the two of you could wait here for him, if you want. Like I said, he comes by every couple o' days. I got rooms on the secon' floor if you're willing to wait."

"Of course we are," Agdar said; beside him, Idun nodded fiercely. Anything to help their daughter. _Looks like this might take a little longer than two weeks, _he thought. _Hang in there, Elsa. We'll find this man for you._

* * *

The tavern door squeaked open, surprisingly slow and quiet. Most of the Snuggly Duckling's patrons liked to announce their arrival as boisterously as possible by kicking down the door, shouting their name and punching the nearest person in the gut. This time, it was all too easy to miss the slim, hooded form that slipped inside—as was his intention.

The figure made for the table in the far corner of the room, which all patrons had come to know has "his". Normally such respect for space was nowhere to be found in the Duckling, but all could agree they just didn't feel right sitting at that table anymore. It was as though a permanent chill hung in the air around that corner, one no amount of candles could banish.

The stranger sat back in his usual chair and gestured for the bartender to approach him. Taddis did so, throwing a pointed glance at the _other _two hooded figures in the tavern, sitting on the opposite side of the room. They rose and walked quickly over, arriving at the stranger's table just as Taddis left.

"May we sit?" Agdar asked, gesturing to the two empty chairs on the other side of the table.

The stranger didn't look at them; there was no way to see his face beneath the hood. "Something wrong with your other seats?"

Idun and Agdar exchanged glances. That voice . . . it was much younger than they'd expected. Who and what exactly were they dealing with?

"Actually," Idun said, sliding into one of the chairs. "We came here to talk to you."

"Really? I'm _shocked_." The sarcasm was impossible to miss.

What Agdar also noticed, however, was the tense anticipation that had overtaken the figure. Taddis had left him a drink on the table, but the man made no move to grab it. Instead, his hands were clenched firmly around the edge of the table, as though at any moment he might have to flip it over and race away.

"We're not here to hurt you," Agdar said quickly, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "We just want to talk."

"About what?"

He hesitated. Idun and he had spent four nights at the Snuggly Duckling; they'd had so much time to talk this meeting over, they'd planned out exactly what they would say when they met the mysterious man. Now that they were face to face, however, they were both at a loss for words.

"We've heard rumours," Idun began slowly, choosing each word with the utmost care; on the off chance this man was dangerous, they didn't want to set him off. "About a man who can control ice and snow. That wouldn't happen to be . . . I mean, is that . . . is that you?"

Agdar didn't think the stranger was listening anymore. As soon as Idun has said "control ice and snow" the man had gone rigid, sitting straight up in his seat. Agdar could feel the tension radiating off of him—and was it just him, or had the temperature dropped in their corner?

"I-I have to go." The stranger was out of his seat before either noble could object.

"Wait!" Agdar managed to catch the man's sleeve just as he hurried past. "Please, we just want to talk—"

The man wrenched his arm out of the king's grasp, and as he did so, his hood shifted. He gasped, hands flying up to reposition it, but it was too late; the material had fallen back, allowing everyone to see his face.

Agdar's first thought was _he's not a man, just a boy—no older than Elsa. _However, this observation quickly disappeared, replaced with his much more important second thought.

_I know him._

"_Jack_?" he said in disbelief. Agdar had thought he'd forgotten the name, lost it to time, but it came to his lips so easily now. How many months had he and his wife spent searching for the one person they knew was like their daughter?

Jack froze in the act of pulling up his hood. Despite having aged, he was unmistakably the same boy they had come across in the forest so long ago. His hair was the same ice white, his eyes the same piercing blue. Even his expression of fear mimicked the one he'd worn after he'd healed Anna ten years ago.

"H-how do you know my name?" he demanded, taking another step away from the king and queen.

"We've met you before," Idun said. "Ten years ago, in the forest north of Arendelle. You saved our daughter. We never got the chance to thank you."

Jack frowned in confusion. "Wait . . . you were that king and queen, weren't you?" His eyes widened. "You had another daughter, an older girl. Like me."

"Yes, Elsa," Agdar said hurriedly. "She's why we've come looking for you."

"You've been looking for me?"

"Yes. Elsa's powers are getting stronger by the day. We've been told . . . we've been told she may become dangerous." Agdar took a deep breath. It pained him to be worried about his daughter; he hated himself for the feeling of fear that crept up in him every time her powers acted up. What sort of a parent was afraid of their own child?

Idun seemed to sense his distress and gently put a hand on his shoulder. "We've been looking for someone like her, a teacher to help her control her powers," she continued to Jack. "After we met you, well, we knew there had to be others like Elsa in this world. And now that we've found you again—"

"You're the only one who can help her," Agdar interjected. "The troll king said you have a remarkable degree of control over your powers. Come with us, teach her. Please."

To his dismay, Jack took another step back, shaking his head. "Oh no. No, you don't want me. Trust me, I'm not the 'teaching' type."

The boy's lips curved up in an attempt at a grin, but Agdar could tell it was nothing more than a poor attempt at hiding his fear. What could possibly have someone as powerful as Jack so afraid?

"Jack, please." Idun took his hand, surprising the boy, who looked unsure as to whether or not he should pull away. "We know how kind you are. We know you saved a village from a flood and rescued those knights from an avalanche." She tactfully left out the part about them all dying horrific deaths later on; that was a subject to be broached another day. "We know you just want to help people. Elsa needs help."

"And besides, we haven't yet had the chance to thank you," Agdar jumped in. "If you came back with us, you'd have a whole suite to yourself in the castle. You'd have everything you could ever want. A home, comfort, safety—"

"A family," Idun added, looked into Jack's eyes. They were a whirling mess of exhaustion, anguish, hopelessness and, above all, fear. "You poor boy," the queen murmured softly, putting a hand to Jack's cheek. "How hard it must be for you, out here all alone."

Jack didn't respond, but the look on his face said everything he wouldn't. He looked so much younger in that instant, like a lost, scared child vulnerable to all the world's cruelties. Agdar could feel his heart twinge sympathetically. Idun couldn't restrain herself and swept the child up in a tight hug.

For a moment, Jack just stood there, completely frozen in shock. Then, slowly, he raised his arms to embrace Idun in return. His eyes glistened; this was the first hug he'd had in a very long time.

"A-all right," he said after a moment, trying to squeeze the words out through his choked up throat. "I mean, y-yeah, I guess . . . I guess I can come with you. I, um, I don't know how good a teacher I'll be though," he finished quietly.

Agdar stared. For a moment, it wasn't Jack he saw standing before him, but his daughter, her expression fraught with anxiety as she thought of all her shortcomings. The similarities were uncanny.

The king smiled warmly, patting the nervous boy on the shoulder. "Don't doubt yourself, Jack. You'll be just fine."


	3. The Storm

_**Sorry it's been a little while, but here's another chapter! Apologies for the cliff-hanger at the end - originally I was going to add more to this chapter, but I thought it would be best to keep the chapter length relatively consistent. Is between 3000-5000 words a good length for you guys, or would you prefer shorter/longer?**_

_**Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter and thank you for reading!**_

* * *

How had he wound up here?

Jack sighed, gazing out at the empty expanse of sky and ocean that stretched before him. As always, it made him feel small. Insignificant. Alone.

But he wasn't alone, not this time. Instead of crossing the ocean stowed away on some merchant vessel or flying through the skies, he'd been personally invited aboard the regal yacht of King Agdar of Arendelle. He'd been given his own spacious cabin, a seat next to royalty at mealtimes, and he even had his own cabin boy to fetch him whatever he required. It was a far cry from the life he'd been living up until now.

Again, how had he wound up here?

"Jack." The quiet call startled him out of his thoughts, and he turned from his perch on the bow of the ship to find the queen of Arendelle standing before him.

"Oh, um, hello, Your Highness." Or was it "Your Majesty"? Or "my lady"? He could never keep these royal titles straight.

The queen smiled. "No need for formalities. You can call me Idun."

"Okay . . ." he said slowly. He still wasn't sure how to act around the king and queen. They'd popped up back into his life after ten years at the Snuggly Duckling, of all places, begging him once again to help one of their daughters. The way they had looked at him in the tavern had made his stomach churn; they'd had such hope in their eyes, as though he was truly their saviour. But they knew so little about him.

"You should come inside," Idun said, coming forward and putting a hand on his shoulder. "The wind's picking up, and the waves are getting bigger. The captain says there's a storm on the way."

"I'll be fine," he replied quickly, ducking out from under her comforting touch. "The weather doesn't really bother me."

It was true. This feeling others called "cold", it was a foreign concept to him—or maybe he felt it all the time and it was "warm" he didn't understand. Either way, the biting wind did little more than nip at his cheeks playfully, as though it wanted to take him along for another ride. He was half tempted to let it.

Idun's warm expression never faltered, despite his obvious attempt to distance himself from her. "You're just like Elsa," the queen said fondly. "She loved to feel the wind in her hair."

"_Loved_?" The past tense confused Jack.

The queen's expression saddened until her frown disappeared. "She hasn't gone outside in a long time, I'm afraid." Idun sighed and Jack couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. "She stays locked in her room. We've tried to coax her out on occasion—her sister does almost every day—but she refuses to leave." The queen's gaze met his then, and the sudden eye contact made Jack uneasy. He realised he hadn't had a real conversation with someone in a very long time. "She's scared, Jack, scared she'll hurt someone with her powers. And she feels alone. More than anything, I think it's the loneliness that hurts her. She worries she'll be rejected by others if they find out about her powers."

Jack could relate to her there. After all, that was the whole reason he'd never returned home—_no, don't think about it! _Those weren't the kinds of memories he wanted to dredge up now.

Perhaps Idun could sense his discomfort. Her expression quickly shaped from serious back to smiling, and she deftly changed the subject. "Would you like to see them? My daughters?" Her eyes shone with fondness as she pulled at a slim, golden chain around her neck, tugging a locket up from behind the neckline of her dress. "They've aged quite a bit since you last saw them. I doubt you even remember them, really."

Jack shrugged non-committedly in response. What he didn't say, however, was that he could never forget the girl with the white-blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, not for as long as he lived. How could he? She was the only person he'd ever met like him, the only person who might know what was going on with them and how to stop it. He'd wanted to return to Arendelle so badly, ever since he had left all those years ago, but he could never bring himself to. What he'd done to save that other princess, that had been some seriously strong magic. _He _had been drawn there almost instantly, and Jack had barely managed to escape. After that, he hadn't had the courage to go back to the far kingdom. Until now.

Idun delicately clicked the locket open and held it out for Jack to see. Inside were two miniscule oil paintings of girls, so detailed and lifelike it made Jack's head hurt just to picture the artist trying to create these images. On the left, a girl of about fifteen beamed up at him, her excited face framed by two strawberry blonde braids. A single lock of pure white wove down the left side of her head—a permanent reminder of her near-death experience as a child.

Jack barely spared that picture a glance, though, because in the right side of the locket was the girl with platinum blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She was much older, of course, with a sharper chin, finer features and her hair pulled back tightly in a reserved bun, but it was unmistakably the same girl from ten years ago. Elsa of Arendelle.

"They grow up so fast," Idun said, smiling down at the picture of her two girls. She glanced up at Jack, who hurriedly looked away from the locket, trying to appear uninterested. "So did you. I hardly recognised you after all these years—how have you been, Jack?"

He didn't know how to answer that, and luckily he was saved from having to. A shout rose up from behind them, hard to hear over the increasing ferocity of the wind. "Your Majesty! You need to come inside now, the storm's going to hit us hard!"

Jack turned to see a sailor leaning out the cabin door, one hand pressed firmly down on his hat and the other safely latched to the doorknob, as though he was worried he might blow away. Actually, it _was _getting windier out here, much windier. Jack glanced down at the water and noticed the waves had become much larger as well; the calm, clear blue ocean from this afternoon had disappeared, replaced by a ravenous beast anxious to swallow up the tiny ship.

The deck pitched suddenly, and Idun stumbled into the railing. "We really should go," she said, eyes widening as she peered down at the tumultuous sea below. "At this rate, the wind will blow us wildly off course. Unless you could . . ." She glanced at Jack, then looked away. "Never mind. Let's hurry inside."

He knew what she'd been about to say. _Unless you could use your powers to help. _The winds were violent, but he supposed he might be able to push them away; he'd discovered quickly his powers encompassed not simply ice and snow, but the chilly gales that came with winter as well.

Still, that would involve doing magic, and that was not something he wanted to do. After hearing of the horrific fates of the knights who had almost died in the avalanche, Jack had decided he would never use his powers ever again. He could teach Elsa, fine, but using ice magic himself? No—that brought only death and destruction. And _him._

Besides, this was a simple storm. He'd been on ships that had weathered much worse crossing the sea, and they'd never needed his help before. The king and queen's yacht was state-of-the-art, an expensive and well-constructed vessel. Sure, they might be blown off course a bit, but they'd be just fine. No magic was required.

Jack carefully climbed down from his perch to follow Idun, who was beckoning to him from her spot by the railing. She was facing away from the sailor; she didn't catch the look of terror on his face, the jaw-dropped horror as he pointed to something on their starboard side, shouting words they couldn't hear over the tempest surrounding them. But Jack saw the gesture, and he turned to look at what had the man so terrified. Too late.

His eyes had just landed on it when the monstrous wave crashed into them. With a gasp, Jack scrambled to grab any part of the ship he could before the water surged over him with such strength it nearly carried him away. He wasn't sensitive to the cold, but even he could barely repress a shudder as his clothes absorbed the icy chill, weighing him down and raising goose bumps on his skin. His lungs, meanwhile, felt like they were burning, but he had to hold his breath. Perhaps he had a certain degree of control over icy water, but he couldn't breathe it in. If he did, he would drown, and that was a thought that sent another wave of panicked shivers through his sopping body.

All at once, the water disappeared as the wave washed over the rest of the deck. What had felt like a lifetime had merely lasted two seconds, and now Jack was safe again, despite being completely drenched. Yes, now was definitely the time to get inside.

He looked towards Idun to follow her back to the cabin. She wasn't there.

_No. _His heart froze in his chest, and, throwing caution to the winds, he scrambled away from his spot to where she had stood beside the railing. No Idun—no Idun anywhere.

The door to the cabin burst open again—the sailor must have closed it from fear of the wave—and sprinting out came two more shipmates and the king of Arendelle.

"Idun!" Agdar cried, racing to the balcony beside Jack. "Idun! Idun! Jack," he said frantically. "What happened?"

"She . . . I . . ." Jack couldn't get the words out; how was he supposed to explain why they hadn't come inside sooner? Because _he_ liked to be outside, because _he _had delayed. This, this was all his fault.

"There!" One of the sailors by the railing pointed out to the waves. It was nearly impossible to see through the sheets of rain now pouring violently down from the clouds, but Jack could just make out a blotch of blue and purple amidst the waves, the same colour of the queen's dress.

Agdar had one foot on the railing before the sailors grabbed his arms, holding him back from the raging sea. "Your majesty, you can't!" one of them shouted, clinging desperately to the king's sleeve. "You'll drown!"

"Let me go—I order you to let me go! That's my wife out there, I won't let her die!"

"Your Majesty, if you go out there, you'll _both_ die!"

The king rounded on the sailor, who flinched; Jack himself took a step back in alarm. He'd never seen a man this furious. _And it's all my fault._ "Are you telling me to leave my wife to drown?" Agdar shouted, rage and terror cracking his voice. "You want me to let her _die_? No!"

He wrenched his arms from the sailors' grip and would have thrown himself overboard in an instant, but Jack's hand shot out, grabbing the king's shoulder and stopping him for the moment. When Agdar's ferocious gaze turned on him, Jack forced himself not to quail in fear and meet the man's eyes.

"Your Majesty, they're right. You can't put both your lives at risk. I'll get her."

Agdar shook his head. "Jack, no, you're too young to—"

"I'm the only one who might be able to get her out alive. Magic, remember?" A sickening sensation seeped into Jack's gut, but he forced himself to ignore it. _It won't be big magic. Just a little bit. It won't bring _him_._

The king still looked ready to plunge into the sea himself. "Jack, I can't let you—"

But Jack was already leaping over the railing. Whether Agdar liked it or not, his powers were the only thing that could save the queen, and if they continued to argue, it would already be too late. Besides, he had to fix this; it was his fault.

Jack heard the cries rise up from the deck as he plummeted towards the sea, but there was nothing Agdar and the others could do. He just hoped the sailors could keep the king restrained long enough for Jack to help the queen; rescuing two nobles from the sea would be much harder than getting just the one.

At the last second before his feet touched the icy water, Jack called on the winds, willing them to pick him up and fly him across the sea. Instead, he was jerked violently to the left and slammed into the hull of the boat before he could manage some form of a stable hovering. He rubbed his bruised shoulder and cursed; so the storm winds were going to be like that, eh? He'd just have to exercise more control over them, then. _That's not big magic though. It's not, really._

Using all his willpower, he forced the wild winds to bend around him and carry him towards Idun. This kind of work, while not physically straining, was mentally exhausting; air was a naturally free element, and it didn't like being controlled. He wouldn't be able to keep this up for long.

There! Jack caught sight of the purple material amidst the waves again and dove through the air to reach the queen, praying he wasn't too late. The gale buffeted him this way and that, the rain pelted down hard from the roiling black sky, but he managed to make it to the queen. Reaching out a hand, he froze a small patch of water by her side and landed on the makeshift raft, hurrying to pull her up. Her dress was heavy with the weight of the water, her arms slick and hard to grip, but with some struggle he managed to drag her up onto the ice.

"Your Majesty? I-Idun? Can you hear me?"

Her skin was deathly pale and freezing to the touch, her eyes closed and unresponsive to the world around her. Jack swallowed worriedly; no, she couldn't be . . . she wasn't . . .

Jack flinched as the queen coughed, water bubbling up between her lips and racing down the side of her face, then he nearly jumped for joy. She was alive, she was _alive_. Thank goodness.

Slowly, the queen opened one eye, shivering as she looked up at him. "J-J-J-Jack?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Let's get you out of here." The danger was still present; at the rate her teeth were chattering, she might succumb to hypothermia. "Now, can you—"

She looked to the left and screamed. Jack looked up, just in time to see another enormous wave bearing down on their ice raft, one that would consume them completely and drag both of them down to a watery grave.

He acted without thinking. Drowning had always been one of his biggest fears, and the thought of water engulfing his head, choking his throat, filling his lungs . . . it was too much.

With a roar of pure anger and fear, he leapt to his feet and faced the wave. His palms slammed together of their own accord, and suddenly a blinding explosion surrounded him, blasting outwards from where he stood. Tendrils of blue lightning arced through the air, slicing through the wave and freezing it in place. With another yell, Jack shot his hands forwards, and the frozen wave hurtled across the sea, away from him and the queen.

He still wasn't thinking as he scooped the queen up in his arms and leapt into the air. Unlike before, the winds bent all too willingly to his demands, as though they had been scared into submission by his display of power. He'd never done anything like that in all the years he'd had his powers.

Getting back to the ship was a bit of a blur, but before Jack knew it, his feet were touching down on the wooden deck, and people were rushing over to him. Jack let Agdar take Idun from his arms, let the sailors escort him into the warm, safe cabin, and let them sit him down at the mess hall table with a blanket around his shoulders and a mug of something steaming. All of the adrenaline was flowing out of his body now, along with the fear and rage that had motivated the explosion of his powers, and now he felt _exhausted. _In the back of his mind, warning signals were going off, but he couldn't focus enough to make sense of them. There was something . . . something he should be worrying about. But he was just . . . so . . . tired . . .

* * *

Agdar didn't want to leave his wife's side, but the ship's doctor had told him she was stable. She would continue to be monitored in the man's cabin, but he was treating the hypothermia now and, miraculously, it didn't seem like there would be any permanent damage. "She was lucky," the old doctor told him after they'd stripped Idun of her soaking clothes and wrapped her in all the warm blankets they could find. "If she'd been out there any longer, she may have lost all feeling in her hands and feet."

Luck had nothing to do with it. It was Jack to whom Idun owed her life, and to whom Agdar owed a much overdo apology. He'd never even spent a full day with the boy, and yet, on two separate occasions, Jack had saved one of the people he cared most about. Not to mention he was on the ship sailing to Arendelle to help save a third from her own destructive fears.

Two sailors were whispering outside the mess hall when Agdar reached the door. "How's Jack?" he asked as he approached.

"Er, fast asleep," the taller man said, scratching his nose with one meaty finger. "We weren't sure whether to move him or not."

"I'll take care of it. Thank you both for your services tonight. What is the captain saying about the storm?"

"Oh, worst of it's over, apparently. We should be fine from now on." The sailor glanced towards the mess hall door, whistling quietly under his breath. "Never seen anything quite like that, what that kid did. Me mum told me stories 'bout magic, but, I mean, never thought it was _real_. That was . . . well, that was quite something."

There was awe in the sailor's voice, but also an unmistakable hint of anxiety. Agdar hated it, mostly because it reminded him of his own tone when he spoke of Elsa's powers. Besides, Jack didn't need anyone fearing him for his magic when he had just saved the queen of Arendelle's life.

"We're very lucky to have him aboard," Agdar said, stepping around the soldiers and opening the door to the mess hall. "Without him, Idun would have been lost. Goodnight, men. Take it easy for the rest of the night. You deserve it."

"We all do," the shorter, scrawnier sailor grumbled. "That was one 'ell of a storm."

The men wandered off down the corridor, chatting about their plans for when they reached the kingdom. Agdar entered the mess hall, which was empty and dark, save the single candle in the middle of one table and the lone boy sleeping beside it.

Strange, to see Jack looking so peaceful. All he ever seemed to be was nervous or scared—at least, what Agdar had seen of him. It was good to see him relaxed in sleep, looking so much older and yet, at the same time, younger than his usual self. The image he brought to mind was no longer one of a scared child, but neither was it one of a boy aged past his years by the many tragedies he had suffered. For the first time, Jack looked his age. Elsa's age. Agdar smiled fondly. He could already see the two of them getting along.

Slowly, so as not to disturb the sleeping boy, Agdar lifted him into his arms, surprised by how light Jack was. The boy hid himself beneath his cloak, but his face was thin, his arms scrawny and almost stick-like. He was underfed, tragically so. Another problem Agdar and Idun would help the boy with when they arrived in Arendelle.

The cabin they had given Jack wasn't too far from the mess hall. Agdar didn't encounter any other sailors as he brought the sleeping boy back to his bed; likely they were all off having a well-deserved drink. Part of Agdar felt compelled to join them, but he was much more concerned with returning to his wife's side. First, though, he'd take care of Jack.

After successfully opening the door to the small cabin without dropping the boy, Agdar stepped in and laid Jack on the soft mattress. The boy tossed slightly, murmuring something incomprehensible under his breath, then returned to his calm state. Agdar couldn't help but smile as he lifted the blankets to tuck Jack in; when was the last time he had done this? Elsa had insisted from a young age that he and Idun should be in her room as little as possible. Anna, meanwhile, was full of boundless energy and was often up well past her parents, slaying imaginary dragons and dancing with imaginary princes in the empty rooms of the castle walls. Both of his daughters had grown up too fast, in different ways; he hadn't been able to care for them like they were children in a long time.

_Agdar, you silly fool. They're not children anymore. _He could picture the look of horror on Anna's face if she'd heard him refer to her as such, practically hear the resolute cry of, "I'm not a child! I'm a knight!" Or a hero, or a dancer, or a dragon slayer, or whatever else she'd decided to pretend she'd be that day. She had quite the imagination—which he supposed was a good thing as that was the only thing she had to occupy her time.

He sighed. They hadn't wanted to keep Anna confined to the castle, not at first. But it would have been impossible to control her otherwise. What if she let something slip about Elsa that made the villagers curious to find out more? What if they used Anna to get to Elsa? There were simply too many terrifying possibilities.

All that would change when they got back to Arendelle. Jack would help Elsa with her powers, and perhaps he could be a friend for Anna as well. With Elsa's control over her magic and her self-confidence restored, they could open the gates to the castle once again, and things could be just as they had been before that fateful night ten years ago. Everything would be all right.

Agdar rose to leave the cabin, but paused in the doorway, glancing back at Jack once more. This boy, he was their saviour. Agdar could already picture the bright future he would bring to there family.

He smiled. "Goodnight, Jack. And thank you for everything," he whispered, shutting the door behind him to let the boy rest in peace.

* * *

_He was back in the cave. Always the cave—the cave that had started it all._

_Darkness, all around him. Tangible darkness, that clung to his skin and wrapped around his arms and crawled down his throat. He wanted to throw up, but he couldn't. The darkness had him._

_Somehow, though, he could see through the shadows, see to the other little boy cowering at the entrance to the cave. Right, his friend—he'd had a friend, hadn't he? But he couldn't remember anymore. The darkness was taking over his mind._

_Laughter. The same laughter that followed Jack wherever he went, that haunted his past, present and future. A blood-curdling, bone-chilling laugh, and the slyly whispered words in his ear, "I've got you now."_

_The other boy stared past Jack at something behind him and screamed._

Jack jerked awake, gasping for air. There was still darkness everywhere, and he shrank away from it, but as his eyes adjusted, he realised he was back in his cabin aboard the king and queen's ship. He'd just had a bad dream, nothing more than a nightmare, nothing to worry about.

But he knew that was wrong. It took him a moment to realise why, but then he understood.

His dream had ended, but the screaming was still going.

_He's found me._


End file.
